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MONTHLY NEWS October 1998 Elderly Man to Sail Nonstop Around the World |
A 69-year-old yachtsman living in Osaka Prefecture embarked on a nonstop solo voyage around the world on September 15, 1998--which was Respect-for-the-Aged Day in Japan.
Ikuo Kashima plans to travel 54,870 kilometers (34,290 miles) around the globe on his yacht, Koraasa 70, without calling on a single port. He is scheduled to return home in the fall of 1999, by which time he'll be 70 years old--becoming the world's oldest person to make a voyage of this kind. Kashima says that if he's successful, he'll apply to have his feat registered in the Guinness Book of World Records. Kawashima will travel east across the Pacific Ocean, pass around Cape Horn in Chile and then the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. After reaching the coast of Tasmania, he'll sail north back to Japan. Kashima's yacht is 13 meters (43 feet) long and 4 meters (13 feet) wide. It's equipped with a satellite telephone system, personal computers, digital camera, microwave oven, and a small bathtub; he says he'll occupy himself by uploading snapshots of the voyage on his Website. The electric equipment that he's bringing along runs on solar and wind power. Although Kashima took 1,500 kilograms (3,300 pounds) worth of canned and dried food with him, he says he'll also try growing vegetables on the yacht. More than three decades ago in 1965, Kashima became the first Japanese to make a solo voyage across the Atlantic. He also traversed the Pacific in 1967. "I expect to do a lot of reflecting on the past 70 years while at sea. I want to prove that even a 70-year-old can sail around the world as long as he's healthy. I look forward to watching the sun rise on New Year's Day near Cape Horn in Chile," Kashima says.
Photo: Kashima sets out on his year-long trip. (Kyodo) |
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